Concerns about the safety of transgender women in Dallas are growing after a woman was shot in a vicious attack on Friday night.
CBS News reported Dallas police are investigating the incident as a hate crime and asking for the public’s help finding the suspect.
Video surveillance shows a red Chevrolet truck approaching the woman as she was walking. The gunman reportedly hurled transphobic slurs at the transgender woman before opening fire, hitting her several times in the chest and arm.
The woman, who survived the attack, is just one of several transgender people in Dallas who have been targeted over the past few months.
In June, Chynal Lindsey was found dead in White Rock Lake. Her killing came two weeks following the shooting death of Muhlaysia Booker, whose body was discovered on a road less than a mile from Lindsey’s. Booker, who was assaulted just a month before her death, garnered national attention after her attack video went viral.
Last week, the Kansas City, Kansas, community mourned the death of Ja'Leyah-Jamar Berryman who was reportedly killed by an ex-boyfriend.
Initially misgendered by local media outlets, Berryman was reportedly killed outside of a local Dollar Tree where she worked. In the wake of her death, the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project confirmed Berryman's gender identity and pronouns, stating, "As we hold space to remember and uplift Ja’Leyah, we must also recognize the factors at play that contribute to the dramatically increased risk of violence that trans women of color — especially Black trans women — face every day."
Berryman is the second known Black trans woman to be killed in the Kansas City-area this year. Brooklyn Lindsey was found dead at a vacant home in Kansas City, Missouri.
This year alone, 19 transgender women have been killed, the majority of whom are Black.
According to CBS News, while hate crime laws in Texas call for strict penalties in crimes driven by sexual orientation bias, there is a gap in the statute for crimes committed based on gender identity and expression.
NBC News reported police are offering a $5,000 reward for any information relating to the shooting that leads to the suspect’s arrest and indictment.
